MK Dons battled their way to a 1-1 draw at Lincoln City, forcing a replay after this tight FA Cup First Round clash at Sincil Bank.
A draw was probably a fair reflection of the contest with the League Two side, with a replay now due at the National Hockey Stadium.
Danny Wilson made a couple of changes to the side which drew 1-1 at home to Rotherham United last weekend. With Dean Lewington and Pablo Mills both suspended, newboy Mark Ricketts was drafted into centre-half and Trent McClenahan also brought into the back four.
And with Wade Small, pictured right, returned from a hamstring injury, he was brought back into the starting 11, at the expense of last week's goalscorer Malvin Kamara. The final change saw Nicky Rizzo dropped from the line-up, Nick McKoy brought into the Dons midfield.
Lincoln started brightly with a neat attack in the second minute, Derek Asamoah flicking the ball into the path of Marvin Robinson, whose shot across the face of goal was watched narrowly wide by Dons stopper Matt Baker.
Asamoah had a speculative shot from distance which was deflected wide on eight minutes as the home side continued to have the better of the opening exchanges.
A break from defence to attack in the 10th minute saw Wade Small sprint with the ball down the right flank, cut inside and sent in a low left footer which slid narrowly the wrong side of Red Imps keeper Alan Marriott's left hand post.
A free-kick punted into the box found the feet of Asamoah seconds later and Baker had to be out bravely to block the effort from eight yards out.
A cross from Lee Beevers from the left nearly outfoxed Baker as it seemed to swing towards the goal on 13 minutes, but fortunately for the Dons it cleared the crossbar.
Lincoln had the first real effort of note on 20 minutes when a free-kick from Dean Keates, all of 35 yards, had Baker beaten but came back off his left hand post and was hooked clear by Craig Morgan.
A good move involving McLenahan, Platt and Small ended up with a wayward shot from Small which flew high and wide of the target.
Edds went down under a challenge from Paul Morgan on 26 minutes, winning a free-kick almost on the touchline, right on the edge of the 18 yard box on the right side. But the ball across from Mitchell was dealt with easily by the home defence.
A left footed effort from Mitchell on 29 minutes was met by a safe stop by Marriott.
GOAL: Lincoln took the lead with a good goal on the half-hour mark. A great cross from Colin Cryan was met by a perfectly timed diving header by Marvin Robinson, which flew past Baker into the top right corner of the goal.
Home defender Gareth McAuley was yellow carded for kicking the ball away at a free-kick on 31 minutes, after a foul on Izale McLeod which won the Dons a set-play, sent in again by Mitchell and fired well off-target by Edds.
Robinson was then booked on 36 minutes for a tackle from behind on Edds.
Despite all the sunshine in Lincoln, the rain also started to teem down as the match wore on, making the playing surface slippy.
Ricketts them picked up a booking on 40 minutes for a foul on Asamoah.
With all the bad tackles starting to fly in, referee Michael Jones was coming in for criticism as the game began to have a real edge creeping in.
GOAL: The Dons levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time. Small was involved again as he slotted a ball into the path of Edds, who turned onto his left foot and smacked a low shot which took a deflection, wrongfooting Marriott and ending up nestling into the bottom corner.
Half-time: Lincoln City 1 MK Dons 1
Stung by the conceding of the Dons goal late in the first half, Lincoln signalled their intentions to re-gain the upper hand after the break.
With Asamoah looking dangerous alongside Robinson, it was not just the route one football which Lincoln are infamous for - there was plenty of attacking invention through the midfield from the Red Imps as well.
Asamoah had a run at goal down the left flank, twisting McLenahan inside out before unleashing an effort which was well off-target.
The Dons were so close to going in front on 58 minutes when Edds got down the right and clipped a brilliant cross for Platt, who headed at goal from close range but saw his effort cleared from under the crossbar by Lee Beevers. Once again there was a suggestion that the ball may have crossed the line, and Platt was busy appealing after the ball had been cleared.
Wilson made the first change of the afternoon on the hour mark, taking off McKoy to replace him with Gary Smith - a sign that the Dons boss wanted to look for a winning goal rather than settle for a replay.
His first action was to latch onto a square pass from McLeod, pictured above left, on the edge of the box and smash in a left footer which was stopped by Marriott in the centre of the goal.
There was a nervy moment for Lincoln as their keeper Marriott raced out with a rash attempt at a challenge on Small on 66 minutes. As the last man, had he connected it would have been surely a red card, but Small skipped over the challenge and his shot at the empty net was well wide.
Robinson had the ball in the back of the net on 67 minutes when a ball punted into the box was headed home from close range. But the referee ruled the effort out for an offside decision.
Another neat passing move saw Platt, McLeod and Edds all involved as Smith slotted a pass in for Mitchell, who could have shot but opted to pass to Platt, but the big striker could not reach the ball as the good chance went begging on 28 minutes.
The game was shaping up to be an interesting and entertaining affair, with both sides eager to claim a place in the Second Round.
Asamoah showed his skill on 76 minutes, turning on a sixpence before sending a shot at goal which was deflected over. And from Keates resulting cross from the corner, Baker had to claim well under pressure on his goal-line.
Brown's cross from the right was headed high and handsome by Gary Birch on 79 minutes as the home side began to enjoy much of the possession in the closing stages.
Wilson made his second change on 81 minutes, taking off the goalscorer Edds and throwing fellow Australian Nicky Rizzo into the action.
McLenahan had to head Keates free-kick behind for a corner on 83 minutes as the Red Imps piled on the pressure. If we had not seen all route-one stuff earlier in the game, it was certainly in evidence late on.
Lincoln made a late change, Birch coming off for Francis Green on 87 minutes.
Baker made a brilliant save to keep out Robinson's header on 88 minutes, diving full stretch to his right to keep the effort out after a brilliant cross from Green.
A full-blooded, but 50-50 challenge involving Smith and Keates on the stroke of full-time saw the Lincoln player red carded, fairly harshly in the view of the home supporters.
Wilson made his third change deep into injury time, McLeod going off for Kamara.
But that was the last moment of note as the referee blew his whistle seconds later.
Full-time: Lincoln City 1 MK Dons 1
